Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Both literally and figuratively.
It's New Year's Eve week and I can feel the need and excitement for change in my bones!

The first 10 years of the 2000's have flown by at lightening speed.

I remember the whole Y2K scare like it was yesterday - all the computers would crash and the world would be in turmoil!

all the stress and worry

and here we are 10 years later with e-readers, iPads/iPhones and who-sits and whatsits galore.

A LOT has happened in ten years.

Babe and I were talking about it last night.

I've been out of high school for almost 13 years (really????)
I've graduated from college. twice.

I met my future husband in college at the ripe old age of 19 in the fall of 1998

We started dating in May of 2000

We had Sweet Pea in the spring of 2002

We got engaged later that fall.

We subsequently broke up in spring of 2003

We got back together in the summer of 2007

We got re-engaged ( is that a word?) in spring of 2009

We were finally married in the summer of 2010 and now here we are plotting on baby #2 for summer/fall 2011.

WOW.

I would have never guessed all those years ago that we would end up here.

I wouldn't have guessed after 2003 we would've ended up here.......but obviously God's plan was greater than whatever nonsense I had going on.

And thank goodness for that!

I am so grateful for the friendship my husband I shared prior to our 'taking it to the next level'

It's made our relationship that much stronger and allowed us to move on from seemingly detrimental set-backs that would tarnish any other 'regular' relationship.
I love looking back and seeing how far I've come and what has transpired in my life but to be able to do that not only with the man I love and chose for my husband but also my best friend?
Priceless.
I love that we have so many memories together.
I love that my college experience includes him.
We weren't high school sweet hearts and we didn't have a fairy tale courtship/relationship.
But we have lived and loved and learned.
That is really all I can ask.
So as I look forward to passage of the next decade and what that will bring:

baby # 2?

the launch of my own business

Sweet Pea turning 10 in 2012!!!

our 10 year wedding anniversary

Sweet Pea graduating from High School in 2020

I say a fond farewell to 2010 and the last decade and look forward to the next 10 years.
I will savor the moments as they go by and relish each day and new experience for what it is.......
bring it on 2011!

Monday, December 27, 2010

It seems like we were just gearing up for Christmas and now its suddenly come and gone and now the new year is lurking just around the corner.

That is always a drag about this time of year

The let down.

The post Christmas/ new years holiday after math of nothingness.

no sparkle

no shimmer

no carols or cheer.
no crafts or decor to spruce up the house.....

sigh.

The end of the year is near and I along with everyone else am scrambling to wrap things up nice and tidily.

Preferably with a bow on top.

Honestly speaking......I am ready for this year to be over.Although I have no plans to take down my holiday decor until the first of the year........

But I am grateful for all the things that were revealed this past year.

It has been a trying time.

A year of struggles, triumphs, trials and tribulations.("Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith..." James 1:2-3, 5-6a)

The most amazing things happened and the most tragic ( in my world).

It was definitely a year of growth and I am excited to see what God has in store for us in 2011.

I was looking back on this post and found that my word for the year FAITH was quite apropos.
Who knew?

My faith was tested in many ways this year and Babe and I had to rely on our faith as a family to get us through many a hard day/night/week/month.
We also had to rely on our faith in each other..........what a life lesson!

I have lost family members, and friends in the last 12 months.

In both the physical and emotional sense.
Some left the earth while others merely left my life.

Each of them have left some kind of indelible mark on my heart and in my life and I am forever changed because of my experiences with them.

My resolve has been tested and ideals/ thoughts were challenged and changed for the better.

And although there were times I didn't think I would make it through......

It has been an amazing year.

I am ready to take on 2011 with a renewed spirit, stronger sense of self and an undying FAITH that things will all work out and go according to plan.
Forgive me for waxing nostalgic but it's the last week of the year!
I mean, do you blame me?
How can we not reflect on all that has transpired and marvel at the amount of growth that has occurred - how fast time has gone since the beginning of the year.........

I took the time out to unplug and really focus on my family this holiday season and not worry about what to update my status to or which photos would be going on the blog so this is my first time back online since Thursday!

That's an eternity right?

We had a wonderful Christmas.

It was a day filled with family, food, plenty of laughter and love.
Giving and receiving of love and material things, laughter ringing throughout the air and champagne bubbles flowing everywhere!!

My Sweet Pea was beside herself when she opened up her gift from her Papa - a brand new hot pink Nintendo DSi.

Plus a game and a Princess and the Frog case.

She also got 17 million dolls, a camera and some DVD's.

She's going to be busy all week long.

The joys of being kid are obviously waking up ridiculously early on Christmas morning unable to contain your excitement.

The downside of being a parent is having to wake up ridiculously early on a day off .......but the pure joy on my kids face was totally worth it.

I managed to get it together enough to whip up not only my "famous" mac'n'cheese AND a test out a new recipe for aFudgy Peppermint Truffle Chocolate Cake.....I even made a hearty breakfast of cinnamon rolls, eggs, grits and turkey bacon!

And for once I was totally 'in' the moment as I don't have a single photo from the morning!!!

Surprisingly we made it out the door in record time and got to my mothers house just on time!

After stuffing ourselves silly we swung by my Dad's house and spent some time w/ my aunt and uncle who is visiting from Texas.

Once Sweet Pea opened her DSi - and subsequently lost her marbles - she pretty much tuned us out for the rest of the evening.

I was surprised she still wanted to watch a movie once we got home, but she ran upstairs, put on her new Christmas PJ's and slippers and got cozy on the couch to watch "This Christmas"

Sunday was spent in PJ's on the couch reading, watching football and movies until it was time for bed.

This Christmas was kinda low-key and we just really focused on Sweet Pea and giving to others.

I"m definitely looking forward to ringing in the New Year and for our annual pot of gumbo on New Year's Day........

Oh the weather outside is frightful......but inside it's so delightful....... oddly enough it actually is for once.

Worst series of storms So Cal has seen in years......It's rained for the last 4 days straight which NEVER happens.....and I happened to have to be out and about during most of it.Yay.

Saturday Sweet Pea and I ran down to Long Beach to hit up my favorite craft supply store the Fabric Barn and loaded up on TONS of goodies.I got branches and berries, glitter and paint, ribbons, headbands and hair clips galore!It was so much fun!$60 later......we walked out totally satisfied with our purchases and inspired to create![side note: Martha Stewart glitter albeit fabulous is a bit too expensive for my taste for one small jar - upwards of $3.99.....well I found the exact same glitter(colors) for $1.30!!!! Needless to say Martha has lost a customer. ]Even though it was pouring cats & dogs we had a delightful time just she and I dodging the rain drops , getting our Target on as well as partaking in some yummy Chinese cuisine!I left Sweet Pea with my mother as they were headed to see The Nutcracker on Sunday and I was off to do some Christmas shopping!My first stop was Toys-R-Us as they were having a killer sale on one of her top wish list items and her Papa had given me some money to pick her up a 'few things'. So off I go and its a complete madhouse. Oy!But I rush back to my area - get my bundle and head to the register. Paid for the package and then headed to my dad's house so he could wrap it.As I'm driving it's irking me that my total was not the final advertised price but whatever, right?Leave the gift with my dad and head back over the hill to my humble abode. About a quarter of the way home my wheels start really turning and I am appalled that I was bamboozled so easily!Upon returning home I am mumbling and disgruntled about the pricing issue and know that because it's a 'weekend madness' sale they will try and screw me over and say I should've brought it back the night before.Since the store is open until 1am I drag my wonderful husband back down to Cypress/Cerritos to make the exchange.Whew!It even worked out better because her gift is now in her favorite color!!! (which the lazy girl working there sad they didn't have any more of!)Score!Sunday I got up semi-early and braved hit my favorite stores to finalize the 'gift situation' and ended up scoring some cute embellishments not only for the tree but around the house as well!I also found a cute top to wear Christmas day and discovered that William Rast for Target is in stores! Whoo Hoo!I was able to wrap all of the kids gifts and make some treats for later on in the week as well, while watching Eat, Pray, Love!!!I do love a lazily productive day!Here are few pics from this weekends entertainment!

(a wonderful FREE printable I found to make my house more "festive")

I added some stones, twigs and berries to turn this into a wintry decorative accent

Being the emotional basket case I have been - I immediately got misty eyed. There is something in those photos that speaks to me.

I don't know what it is about them.....but Mel if you are reading this - you hit it on the head girlfriend!!

This comes on top of Babe and I talking about when to "plan" for baby #2 (late next year - don't get excited)- and a good friend & co-worker letting me know they were in the 'family way'; so I clearly have babies on the brain!

And this time of year always tends to tug at my heartstrings and get me all choked up over the slightest things.

I am all kinds of excited about the holiday buzz in the air though.

I love the extra excitement that lights and a little bit of sparkle bring to everyone!

And I have been really trying to make it a point and enjoy certain highlights of the season i.e. watching cheesy Holiday themed movies (both classics like 'White Christmas' and 'Miracle on 34th Street' as well as new ones 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' and 'Elf') and making crafts with Sweet Pea, reading in front of a lit tree in a darkened living room just taking time to be in. the. moment.

That's a rarity for me and something I struggle with so it's been nice to just enjoy it all.

I do love this time of year though. It's something about the idea of wrapping up all those loose ends ( and putting them in a pretty box with a jazzy bow) that sets my soul at ease.

And I must say I am ready to put the kibosh on this year.

SO much has transpired and while it was mostly good - there was quite a bit of nonsense I could've done without as well..... but as always it was a year of plenty of growth and change.......and I can't wait to see what next year brings!

I have to say - when I first went to the Dollar Tree looking for candle sticks I found short stubby ones that I could 'make do' but when I went back Saturday I found exact replica's of the ones used in the post! Eureka!!!!

Armed with my can of paint and plenty of news paper - I aimed my spray can and let it rip!

In the begining it looked great but kinda transparent-y so I added a few sprays here and there and went back in side.

A few hours later I came out to this:

Cracked and peeling paint!

Yikes!

What did I do wrong????

How do I fix it??????

As we were waiting for the candle sticks to dry and we decided to try making one of the cones we wanted to do to decorate our home , I opened the fancy Martha Stewart glittering craft set only to discover that in my excitement and haste......I had purchased glitter glue in stead of glitter.

awesome.

Not to thwarted we carried on with the remainder of the cones that will be used to decorate our 'mutual space' at work.

We managed to make 4 "trees" before running out of glitter

(most of which is in the cracks and crevices of my kitchen tile.......this project will haunt me forever)

So the last tree is a "collection" of the green, red & silver used on the others & its classy.

Overall Sweet Pea and I had a grand time doing this craft and it helped me see how it easy it is to take a cone and turn it into something spectacular.......my wheels are turning a bit.

It was also nice to have the quality time with the kid w/ out the TV in the background.

Of course while we waited for our creations to dry we turned on Charlie Brown's Christmas and "The Muppet's Christmas Carol" complete with popcorn to get us really in the holiday mood.

We also tried our hand at making a ribbon bow to use as a tree topper!

That was pretty fun actually - I made one w/ a roll of ribbon leftover from my Dollar Tree run, ended up wanting it a little fuller than it was, so I made one more out of the same ribbon, tied them together and voila!

Magical greatness!

I even had enough ribbon leftover to 'create' a wreath for the door and put my bow making skills to the test and made another one - this time in a jazzy sparkling green- to add pizazz to the plain-ish silver and white ribbon!